Calen (BK 1 My Soul To Keep Trilogy) by Rie McGaha

BUY HERE

Blurb:

When Calen MacLeod begins having dreams of an ethereal beauty who beckons to him, he passes it off as just having an itch he hasn't scratched in a long time. But when he leaves on a journey to find her, following the directions she's given him in his dreams, he begins to doubt his sanity. And when he finds himself high in the Mackinaw Mountains in a secret fortress with unicorns and a pink and white castle, surrounded by women, each one more beautiful than the next, it's a fantasy no man would want to wake up from. But Arianna is the only woman for Calen.

The women of the Fortress have lived in peace, hidden away from the humans who tried to annihilate them all. But now a 500-year-old demon is out to destroy the women's matriarch, Ariella, and he'll stop at nothing to complete his mission. When Calen MacLeod shows up, he throws a wrench into Damon's plans. Never let it be said Damon isn't ready for anything, but when he kidnaps Arianna and takes her to modern day San Francisco, is he ready to meet Calen, who will stop at nothing to save his ladylove?

Calen by Rie McGaha - EXCERPT

After five hundred years, Damon finally had his chance to exact revenge on the women who'd enchanted him and left him trapped within his own body in that dark, damp cave. Kept in a twilight dream state of being, he hadn't really been aware of his physical condition except in a very remote way, but he'd had the ability to dream-think about the witches in the secret Fortress. Five hundred years had given him plenty of time to plot how he would finish Ariella and be rid of the Fortress forever.

The corner of his mouth began to curve into something between a smile and a sneer as he thought of how he'd killed Alliana. She had been so invitingly bent over the stump. All that white skin just begging for his touch… and how he'd touched her. He could still see the red welts left across her white skin as he whipped her, and the sounds she had made drove him crazy.

Now, as he thought of Ariella, the fantasy came back full force. She had come willingly to his bed at one time, and before he was finished, she'd be there again. Willingly or otherwise. Once he found and killed the boy, he'd save Ariella for last so he could take his time with her. By the time he was done, she'd beg him to kill her, and hearing her beg for death would take him higher than any other woman had.

With two dozen men willing to follow him anywhere for the promise of gold, he couldn't lose. Besides, Damon wouldn't tolerate anything less than complete loyalty. Every man under him had witnessed what he'd done to Talbert. Damon smiled now, in much the same manner as he had when he'd dismembered Talbert. He'd sliced the man's limbs from his body… while he was still alive. He liked Talbert, but when the man had tried to take half of the booty they'd stolen, what choice did he have?

"Let's go," Damon shouted. "We have to find the boy." He did not know the child's name, but he would recognize him. All the witches from the Fortress looked enough alike. No doubt the child would have similar physical traits. The women's hair color might vary somewhat, but their facial features were strikingly similar. The men, however, were all golden from the top of their golden heads to the bottom of their golden feet. Their eyes were all as blue as the summer sky, and Damon had no doubt he would know who the witch's child was as soon as he saw him. He thought the boy must be of an age between two and five, or perhaps six, and he would tear every house down to find him if necessary.

Blog Blast 2011

Calen (BK 1 My Soul To Keep Trilogy) by Rie McGaha

BUY HERE

Blurb:

When Calen MacLeod begins having dreams of an ethereal beauty who beckons to him, he passes it off as just having an itch he hasn't scratched in a long time. But when he leaves on a journey to find her, following the directions she's given him in his dreams, he begins to doubt his sanity. And when he finds himself high in the Mackinaw Mountains in a secret fortress with unicorns and a pink and white castle, surrounded by women, each one more beautiful than the next, it's a fantasy no man would want to wake up from. But Arianna is the only woman for Calen.

The women of the Fortress have lived in peace, hidden away from the humans who tried to annihilate them all. But now a 500-year-old demon is out to destroy the women's matriarch, Ariella, and he'll stop at nothing to complete his mission. When Calen MacLeod shows up, he throws a wrench into Damon's plans. Never let it be said Damon isn't ready for anything, but when he kidnaps Arianna and takes her to modern day San Francisco, is he ready to meet Calen, who will stop at nothing to save his ladylove?

Calen by Rie McGaha - EXCERPT

"Da, we've returned with news you aren't going to like," Caleb called out.

William stood and turned to the trio. He raised his brows as he looked them over. "So who's this then?" He nodded toward the boy in Calen's arms.

"That's what you're not going to like, Da. We need to get the babe here to Margaret for care, and then we can tell you the tale."

William pulled the rope, and a loud bell rang out. A moment later, Margaret came in from the kitchen, wiping her hands on a cloth.

"What is it you're wanting? I've bread to finish kneading if you want it for supper," she said, looking at William.

He sighed. The woman had no respect, but without her he'd have never been able to raise his sons after their mother died.

Margaret turned toward Calen and Caleb and opened her arms to them. She walked over and wrapped all of them in a hug.

"My boys are home." She put a hand on each of their faces and patted their cheeks, and nodded toward the boy. "And what have we here?"

Taking the child from Calen, she hugged him to her breast, then looked at the two  grown men with questions in her eyes, but they shook their heads.

"Later," Calen said.

Margaret nodded. "Aren't you a sweet one?" She cooed to the little boy. He nuzzled closer to her, and she hugged him tightly.

"How old are you now? Can you show me?" He held up four fingers. "Oh, well aren't you a big boy then. Can you tell me your name?"

"Arion," he said barely above a whisper.

"Arion," Margaret repeated loudly and then headed back toward the

kitchen door.

The three men watched until the pair disappeared.

"He wouldn't even look at us," Caleb said with a shake of his head.

William grinned. "Like all of us, I s'pose he knows Margaret will get what

she wants, so it's just as well to give it to her and get it over with."

Blog Blast 2011

Calen (BK 1 My Soul To Keep Series) by Rie McGaha

 BUY HERE

Blurb:

When Calen MacLeod begins having dreams of an ethereal beauty who beckons to him, he passes it off as just having an itch he hasn't scratched in a long time. But when he leaves on a journey to find her, following the directions she's given him in his dreams, he begins to doubt his sanity. And when he finds himself high in the Mackinaw Mountains in a secret fortress with unicorns and a pink and white castle, surrounded by women, each one more beautiful than the next, it's a fantasy no man would want to wake up from. But Arianna is the only woman for Calen.

The women of the Fortress have lived in peace, hidden away from the humans who tried to annihilate them all. But now a 500-year-old demon is out to destroy the women's matriarch, Ariella, and he'll stop at nothing to complete his mission. When Calen MacLeod shows up, he throws a wrench into Damon's plans. Never let it be said Damon isn't ready for anything, but when he kidnaps Arianna and takes her to modern day San Francisco, is he ready to meet Calen, who will stop at nothing to save his ladylove?

CALEN by Rie McGaha - EXCERPT

He had seen his father lying on the ground with blood running from his head. And he saw the men ripping his mother's clothes until her skirt hung in shreds, baring her from the waist down. They had tied her hands and threw her over the chopping block and fell on her one by one. The little boy didn't know what they were doing, as they slapped her, shouting and laughing all the while her cries and screams scared him, and he covered his ears. The men were strangers to the child, but one stuck in his memory. Tall, with long, dirty hair, he wore all black and had whiskers all over his face, and this man hurt his mother more than the others. The little boy cried as he watched the men and he saw the flash of a silver ring on the tall man's finger as the man's plunged through his mother's back. The blood ran down her body, down the chopping block onto the dirt.

The boy ran then. He ran back to the place where his mother had hidden him in the dark, secret corner of the hut and made himself as small as he could under the furs. He heard the men come inside, and heard their laughter as they tore up the place. They broke what could break, kicked over the table and stools, and cursed when they didn't find anything of value to steal.

"Burn it!" One of the men shouted.

"Nay," the man with ring said. "We don't want to attract attention. Leave it be and mount up. We have to find the boy!"

The little boy was so afraid, he stayed hidden under the furs all the rest of the day until it was nearly full dark. But as night fell, his full bladder drove him out of his hiding place. He had to climb under and over logs that once made up the walls of his home. That was when he found his parents lying on the ground. He stood there crying, and pee ran down his leg. He went to his mother first and shook her, patted her back and called to her over and over, but she wouldn't answer him. He then turned to his father and shook him harder, but he didn't answer either.

As the full moon rose over the forest, he sat down and wailed. After a while he fell asleep and when he awoke, it was still full dark. He shivered, and used the moon's light to his way back into the hut. Dragging the furs behind him, he went back out to his parents' side. He covered his mother first, laid between them and shared a fur with his father.

When he woke in the morning, he searched through the hut and found some bread and dried meat to eat. With no concept of time, the child slept, ate, played in the dirt, and waited for his parents to wake up.

The next morning, the child awoke to the sounds of men shouting. Fearing the mean men had returned, he ran into the remains of the hut and slid under the fallen logs to the secret corner hiding place. He heard the horses snorting and the men talking. Their voices sounded grim and low, not like the loud laughter of the ones who’d hurt his mother. Shaking with fear, he lay still and tried to make himself very small so they wouldn't notice him. He heard them as they walked around the hut, and the sound of  the fallen logs being moved around told him they were inside. A very big hand picked him up, but he was too afraid to open his eyes.

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Blog Blast 2011